WASHINGTON, D.C. – Attorney General Karl A. Racine welcomed a Superior Court ruling today that allows supporters of a $15 minimum-wage initiative to move forward with ensuring the measure goes before voters. The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) intervened in the caseafter an earlier ruling against the District’s Board of Elections. OAG attorneys contended that the Court, in its prior ruling, had not taken important arguments into consideration regarding the validity of the Board’s decision to authorize the ballot measure.

“We believe this matter is crucial to the public interest, and that’s why we intervened in this case,” Attorney General Racine said. “We are pleased that the Court agreed with our understanding of the law in this matter, clearing the way for the ballot measure to go forward.”

The ruling by Superior Court Judge Maurice A. Ross comes in Wingo v. Board of Elections, a suit in which the former president of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce attempted to stop the minimum-wage initiative from appearing on the ballot. The plaintiff argued among other claims that the Board of Elections was not properly constituted at the time it authorized the ballot measure because some of the Board’s incumbent members had served in a “holdover” status beyond their specified terms.

Judge Maurice A. Ross, in an oral ruling, agreed with OAG’s argument that a Council-passed law limiting the terms of such “holdovers” would be inconsistent with the Home Rule Act if applied to the Board of Elections. Judge Ross concluded, therefore, that the Board was properly constituted when it accepted the ballot initiative.

“Many thanks to Assistant Attorneys General Bradford Patrick, Caliandra Burstein, and Conrad Risher, as well as OAG Equity Section Chief Toni Jackson for their excellent and quick work to bring this victory to our city’s residents,”Attorney General Racine said.